EEOC settles race discrimination lawsuit

ST. LOUIS -- Westwood One Inc. and affiliate Metro Networks Communications Inc. will pay $150,000 to settle a race-discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a former radio news and traffic reporter, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday.

The EEOC sued after investigating the 1999 complaint by Anthony Hicks, who worked for St. Louis Metro Networks. He claimed that he was racially harassed and eventually fired because he was black.

The EEOC said the harassment included a management official using racial epithets and telling Hicks that people of his race were "stupid," the EEOC said.

The settlement also calls for a letter of reprimand for Hicks' manager. Among other provisions, Metro Networks agreed to provide its St. Louis staff with racial sensitivity training, the EEOC said.

New York-based Westwood One says on its Web site that it is the nation's largest domestic outsource provider of traffic reporting services and the nation's largest radio network.

Robert Golterman, attorney for Metro Networks, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a story on its Web site, stltoday.com, that the company denies the allegations but agreed to settle to avoid the risks and costs of going to court. He insisted that Hicks' firing was unrelated to race.